Get Schooled: Providence Classical Adds 11th Grade

By Amber Lester Kennedy Friday, July 15, 2011

In 2013, the first graduates from Providence Classical School will receive diplomas.

The small private Christian school, which uses classical methods of education, is taking another step toward its goal of eventually serving students from kindergarten to twelfth grade. In the fall, it will add the 11th grade, and its high school students will move into a new building. It is the fourth building the school has leased on its Easter Circle campus.

The students will have their own lounge and a decidedly more high school atmosphere, especially since they’ll no longer be passing first graders in the hallways. When the first seniors begin the 12th grade in 2012, they’ll have even more freedom. When class isn’t scheduled, they’ll be able to study and congregate around campus. If they can handle it responsibly, they will also have a different dress code.

They’ll have new responsibilities, too. Seniors will have a senior thesis presentation. Throughout their final year, seniors will work will a faculty advisor to choose a topic to research. At the end of the year, they will write a paper, give and oral presentation and defend their thesis, much like graduate students.

The curriculum will still be classically based, aiming to produce well-rounded lifelong learners. The class is small, with the students taking the same classes throughout the day. The classes include pre-calculus, chemistry, Greek II, Humane Letters and Rhetoric, along with art classes in sculpture and photography. Hopefully, the seniors will cap their school experience with a class trip to Italy and/or Greece.

The school teaches the Socratic method, which encourages learning through discussion and debate. By the time the students reach 11th grade, they’ve taken Latin and Greek, read classic literature like “The Iliad” and studied rhetoric. The school’s graduation requirements state, “The goal is not to provide a smorgasbord of classes from which the student may choose. Instead, we seek to educate them generally so they are well prepared for future studies, a fulfilling life and a journey wherin they grow in wisdom.”

Paula Ginsburgh, who teaches the Humane Letters class to the high school students, told me she wants her students to “learn how to learn, articulate an idea and defend a stance.” The school is attempting to engage the students in their own learning. (Read about my visit to last year’s Humane Letters class here)

The coming year will show just how successful their efforts have been so far. Although the students’ courses aren’t very similar to those offered at other secondary schools, they’ll still take the PSATs and for the first time, Providence’s students will take the SATs. They also have the option of taking Advanced Placement exams without taking AP classes. And this year, the students will begin looking at colleges. Principal Susan Oweis is excited to see how they perform, and plans to visit college admissions officers and find out how Providence’s students can stand out from the pack. She’s already confident they will, because “colleges are interested in well-rounded students,” she said.

The parents are “in with both feet,” Oweis said, and have lobbied to continue adding grades over the past few years. The challenge now is to craft a high school experience that satisfies the students’ desire to have a normal teenage experience, the parents’ desire to provide a different type of education and the school’s desire to remain true to its mission.

“We’re experiencing being what we are and not what everyone else is,” Oweis said.

York County Offers Digital University for Parents

York County’s Lifelong Learning Center is offering two parent universities about how to help children use technology and social media in their education.

The first Digital University will focus on mobile technology devices like the iPad, iTouch and Smart Phones. Parents can learn about educational uses for the devices, such as helping children use them for organization, research, productivity, communication and more. The class will also discuss mobile apps. It will from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on July 20.

The second Digital University will talk about how social media sites, such as YouTube and Facebook, can be used as educational tools. Social networking can facilitate study groups and inspire creative networking. That session will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on July 27.

Each seminar is $10. Call the Lifelong Learning Center at 898-0329 to register, or email here.

Read York Teen’s Blog for National Geographic

In case you missed it, two weeks ago I wrote about York County resident Michaela Seaton, who won a spot in this year’s Natioanl Geographic Hands-On Explorer Challenge.

Her prize was a visit to the Grand Cayman Islands this week, and this week, she’s sharing her thoughts on the trip on the National Geographic blog here. Seaton is a rising ninth-grader at Summit Christian Academy in Tabb.

WM Student Receives ROTC Award

Michael Laycock, a Williamsburg resident, has been presented the Lt. Gen. Sinclair L. Melner Award at the U.S. Army’s Leader Development and Assessment Course at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.

Laycock was ranked second among 463 Army cadets for the 2nd regiment at the 29-day Leader Development and Assessment Course, also known as Operation Warrior Forge. The course is the capstone training and assessment exercise for the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

Cadets are tested on their physical stamina, endurance, ability to navigate over difficult terrain and leadership skills. Laycock received the award at a graduation ceremony on July 11.